I have seen this happening around me and had experienced the same, and hence can comment that mismanagement always is not about money and recognition. The success of a project typically lies in the shoulder of the team which is performing it. Hence a very big part of the project’s fate lies on the management which decides on the resource allocation. Many a time, it is a wrong allocation of a resource that leads into the situation where the whole project goes for a toss! Saying this, I am not criticizing the entire management team as such. All I intended to point out is that your resources’ mentality and skill set should be taken into consideration while allocating them, work.

We have been seeing that people around me suffering from this issue of getting placed in wrong projects which actually leads to the ultimatum, where he decides to leave the organization. It’s important that the resources should be discussed with, before actually deciding on their respective role and team. This will bring out a lot of difference in the morality of the person. He might feel his responsibility and most of the time won’t result in a distress, since he too had been consulted before the decision has been made. A proper briefing about the details of work and its nature may help in decision making.

If a Software Engineer who is experienced in dealing with software and its complexities, is moved into a team which markets bathing soaps, although the job is challenging, he would feel to be the most embarrassed person in the whole world. It is not his cup of coffee. He could not be blamed if he feels disrespected. It’s a shame when our young entrepreneurs who are supposed to be the smartest among the world, take such silly decisions taking only money into consideration. Most of the time, they see their employees as bags of money, rather than people with souls and minds. They forget about the fact that there’s always opportunity available outside for the eligible. I have personally seen engineers with enormous caliber put into software projects which is the task of a matriculation pass. It really feels horrible while in such situation, where there is no respect for one’s caliber and knowledge.

An entrepreneur once was heard asking one of the managers to send a manual test engineer who has experience in web-based application testing, into the role of a developer into a latest technology. He saw a lot of money as part of outsourcing this resource, but didn’t care who he’s sending where! This is one thing that needs consideration from the part of managements. When you are planning for a project, plan for the right set of resources. A major fact is having the understanding of skill set that your resources possess! This is one of the most important factors which need to be looked by the management. They should be tracking their employees’ skill sets at regular intervals. Maintaining a skill matrix could be the best way that the HR department can help in this matter. Most of the times, this has been seen as a step adopted after the company suffers some blows. It should be a measure that the HR should be adopting as part of their policies. This has another use as well, that when you want to find out resources with certain specific domain knowledge; it becomes really easy finding resources.